Sinopticon: contemporary chinoiserie in contemporary art

Ling, Wessie (2012) Sinopticon: contemporary chinoiserie in contemporary art. [Show/Exhibition]

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Abstract

Couriers of Taste explores the relationship between international trade, global consumerism and cross-cultural influences. Through a selection of drawings, cyanotypes, installation and sculptures the exhibition also reflects on Danson House’s past as a place built for leisure and decadence, seeped in and tainted by the 18th century trade and trafficking of peoples and culture.

In the 18th century new goods from around the world were influencing consumption, tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, spices, cottons and silks, changing the habits and fashions of society. Citing works within the historical context of Danson House, Couriers of Taste considers a wider view of today’s global trade practices and power structures. The themes of trade are explored alongside the darker nuances of identity politics, racism, production values, authorship and the contested territory of exoticism.

This exhibition stems from SINOPTICON, a major on-going contemporary art project that considers value and taste, fantasy, replication and the stereotyping of images through the form and decorative narrative in chinoiserie. ‘Chinoiserie’, a French term meaning ‘Chinese-esque’, derived from the Seventeenth Century as an entirely European style that was influenced wholly from China and the East. Like most 18th century houses Danson House would have housed ceramics and possibly wall papers from China, and would almost certainly have housed furniture and collectible items which borrowed chinoiserie elements.

Item Type:	Show/Exhibition
Additional Information:	Shown by WESSIELING: National Flag (SINOPTICON Commission) and Fashion Chess. WESSIELING is a London based visual artist whose work uses text and installations to address the immateriality and symbolic power of fashion. She has exhibited nationally and internationally including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Collyer Bristow Gallery, Hong Kong Arts Centre and Austrian National Museum of Applied and Contemporary Arts among others. Further projects can be viewed at www.WESSIELING.com.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	China, Orientalism
Subjects:	T100 Chinese studies W200 Design studies W900 Others in Creative Arts and Design
Department:	Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Design
Related URLs:	http://www.sinopticon.org/
Depositing User:	Ay Okpokam
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2013 12:11
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2017 08:19
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/13919

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